Rubber tires employing tire treads have been used for more than one century. In such tires, the tire tread provides the interface between the tire and the road surface and, thus, is important to the traction performance of the tire. Particularly useful for certain applications are tire treads with excellent wet traction performance. However, due to numerous complex factors involved, such as the hysteretic bulk deformation of the tread rubber induced by road surface asperities, the rate of water drainage between the tread rubber and the road, lubrication by trapped water or other possible lubricants, and the possible adhesive interactions between the tread rubber and the road, the quantitative mechanisms attributable to improved wet traction performance are not completely understood.
The present disclosure relates to the surprising discovery that the use of fluorinated hydrocarbon waxes, silicone-containing waxes, or chlorinated hydrocarbon waxes to replace all or a portion of a conventional wax in a rubber composition allows for the alteration of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of the rubber composition. This alteration of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of the rubber composition can contribute to enhancing the wet skid resistance of the rubber formed from such composition. Moreover, the use of fluorinated hydrocarbon waxes, silicone-containing waxes, or chlorinated hydrocarbon waxes as disclosed herein to replace all or a portion of a conventional wax in a rubber composition does not significantly impact the bulk mechanical properties of the rubber composition as compared those of a rubber composition formed with the conventional wax.